State of Emergency
by Milu Georgia
Summary: A natural disaster hits Europe, where Mitch and Jerome are due to a planned vacation. Without authorities, electricity and a way to contacts others, they'll have to survive in a world where every man literally fights for himself. [ Merome / Mention of Team Crafted & The Pack]
1. Prologue: Before

Thank you for checking out my new story! Before I'll start with the prologue, I have some basic information for you about the story:

 **Chapters:** Up until now I have written 8 chapters and planned 36. There probably will be around 40 in total, most of the chapters will be 2k - 3k words long.  
 **Uploads:** I'll upload a new chapter every 2 - 3 weeks, when the next chapter comes will be announced at the bottom of the previous one. Together with a little teaser you guys get it will be deleted once the new chapter is online.  
 **Pairings:** Merome [Mitchell Hughes  & Jerome Aceti; main characters of the story]  
 **POV:** Mitch  
 **Music tips:** For each chapter I've chosen a specific song, please listen to it while you read the chapter. It'll help you to be in the 'right' mood. You'll find the song already available on top of the chapter. Just click, listen and enjoy the chapter.  
 **Rating:** PG-13 More intimate moments will be hinted at, as well as some gruesome scenes.  
 **Disclaimer:** The idea for this belongs to me, the two main characters of the story belong to themselves. ;)

That's all from my side, if there are further questions please feel free to ask.  
Also check out my **Twitter account** \- that way you'll get more info about me and my stories!  
 _Milumaus_

Greetings,  
Milu

* * *

 **Music tip:  
Two Steps From Hell - Freedom Fighters**  
watch?v=bBfic1Xj07k

* * *

State of Emergency

 **Prologue:**  
 _Before_

* * *

 _„Ladies and Gentlemen, we are approaching the airport of Manchester, where the local time is 9 pm. At this stage you should be in your seat with your seatbelt firmly fastened. Personal television screens, footrests and seat tables must be stowed away and all hand luggage stored either in the overhead lockers or under the seat in front. Please ensure all electronic devices including laptop computers are turned off."_

While the stewardesses controlled the passengers and their luggage, Mitch sighed and put back in his earphones after fastening the seatbelt around his waist. Before he had to turn off his phone, he tried to send a message to his parents again, but he still got no signal. With a frown on his face he turned it off and then switched to another music channel the airplane was providing.

 _"...to the volcanic eruption last Friday the air traffic will eventually be discontinued this evening for at least three days..."_

The news.  
Without really listening to the female voice Mitch glanced to his left. Jerome grinned at him and then looked back towards the front of the plane. Both had planned the trip to Great Britain for quite some time now and the thought of finally spending some time just with his best friend and without recording day for day brought a smile onto Mitch's face as well. The last time he had been on vacation was at the end of the last year together with his family. He ached desperately for some time off and another continent should do the trick.

The plane was slowly descending and Mitch quickly looked out of the window, but the thick clouds made it impossible for him to see anything. As he leaned back, he continued to stare at the seat in front of him, remembering the worrisome words of his mother.

A few days before their departure a volcano in the south of Iceland had erupted and the ash cloud was supposed to affect the air traffic as it had been in 2010. Because the further consequences hadn't been clear, his mother had suggested more than once to cancel their trip, but the news had stayed the same and the situation had not worsened, so Mitch and his best friend had confidently taken the flight. The short message he had wanted to send was meant to calm his frantic mother down.

 _"This morning, not even a week after the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull, another volcano erupted in South Iceland. The volcano Tindfjallajökull, approximately 20 kilometers south of Eyjafjallajökull, was supposed to be dormant..."_

The voice of the female newscaster aroused his attention again and while the frown returned on his face, Mitch turned the volume louder.

 _"Scientists are sure that both events are connected and warn of the at this point still unpredictable consequences. They are certain that the ash clouds are responsible for the extreme weather conditions northern Europe has to deal with since this morning. A-"_

An uneasy feeling settled in his stomach and pulling out the earphones Mitch turned to Jerome. "Did you know there was a second eruption?"  
His friend turned to him with a clueless expression on his face and a smile that Mitch couldn't return at the moment. His mother's worries had to be at fault for his anxiousness. It probably was nothing, otherwise the pilot would have said so and the stewardesses seemed to be quite relaxed as well.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"There was another volcanic eruption, not long ago."

"Really? What are the odds," Jerome replied with raised eyebrows, but was a lot calmer than Mitch. "They say it's probably no coincidence. And the weather is going crazy according to the news."  
For a moment his best friend stayed quiet and thought about his words, before he answered with a more serious tone in his voice, "It'll turn out alright. Just think back on all the commotion during the last time. Didn't turn out half as bad as predicted."  
Mitch ignored Jerome's attempt to calm him down and looked to the side again, while he asked, "Did you know that I am unable to get a signal since an hour?"

"Probably because of the ash clouds."

"Yeah, sure."

"You worry too much, Mitch. If it would be too dangerous for us, the plane wouldn't be here right now. Those guys have satellites and all that stuff, they know whether it's safe or not."  
Jerome placed a hand on his shoulder and Mitch slowly nodded. They were already descending and the news channels were for sure making a mountain out of a dust speck, as always. His mother's words had riled him up unnecessarily and the second he got a signal again she would get an earful.

"You're right, sorry for being stupid."

Jerome laughed and started to answer, but in the same moment the airplane finally broke through the thick layer of clouds. Immediately he fell silent and the airplane lurched, as a strong gust of wind hit it head-on. Surprised Screams about the unannounced turbulences filled the cabin, Mitch's heart began to race at an inhuman speed and unconsciously he clutched Jerome's arm tightly.

"Mitch..."

"I'm not letting go, Jerome, I don't care if your arm is falling off!"  
His voice was shaking and even though Mitch had never been afraid of flying, the situation was scaring him enough to at least admit it to his best friend, who paid the commotion no mind and instead continued to stare out of the window.

"No, that's not- Just look!"

He _knew_ it was a fault to oblige, but Mitch couldn't stop his curiosity from taking over.  
If possible his grip tightened even more, as he discovered the reason for their turbulences. Thick beads of rain clouded their vision, nonetheless the small town - definitely not Manchester - was visible with its from the wind shaking trees. No lights of cars were present in the streets, since a nearby river had burst its banks and was bathing the nearest streets in cold water.

"...Well, I guess you're right about the crazy weather. I didn't know there would be a storm here."

"Do you think it's really because of the eruptions?"  
Mitch asked with a strained voice and leaned towards the window to look for the runway, but he couldn't see their anticipated destination at all.

"Dunno, but I'm glad that we're not flying back until next week. I'm hopeful-"  
Mitch never got to know what Jerome was so hopeful about, as an earsplitting noise drowned out the screams and the sounds of the turbines, accompanied by a blinding light. Reflexively Mitch moved away from the window, two arms pulled him towards someone's chest, more screams-

And then the plane came down.

* * *

Chapter 1:  
 _Day 0 - Awakening_

His scream echoed in the cabin, but not a single response could be heard. Again his mind forbade him to look up, the thought too cruel, too mind-shattering for Mitch to comprehend at the time.  
"You are _not_ dead, Jerome, you are _not_ leaving me behind!"  
Shaking hands let go of his cold one, felt for a pulse, a breath, a movement, anything really that didn't validate his lethal suspicion...

 **Coming Sep 12th / 13th**


	2. Chapter 1: Day 0 - Awakening

**Music tip:  
Agnes Obel - Riverside  
youtube: **watch?v=vjncyiuwwXQ

* * *

State of Emergency

 **Chapter 1:  
** _Day 0 - Awakening_

* * *

The first thing Mitch noticed was a loud and whirring noise, accompanied by the smell of something burned. In the first moment he was neither able to move a muscle, nor to open his eyes. A quiet groan escaped his parted lips and as if his lungs had awoken by the sound, he began to gasp for breath like a drowning man.

He finally opened his eyes, only to be greeted by the sight of black smoke under the ceiling.  
Ceiling…?

The sound of heavy raindrops and gusts of winds gave him the impression to be somewhere outside. But why wasn't he sleeping inside, when the weather was so horrible?  
Closing his eyes once again Mitch tried to swallow and took a deeper breath, before he looked at the ceiling once again.

Where was the smoke coming from?  
Had they been grilling? He couldn't remember, all in all it was so _hard_ to think about anything.  
A prickling feeling took hold of his hands. He could feel fabric under his right hand's fingers and something larger, softer in his left. Another hand, fingers intertwined. A small smile appeared on Mitch's face – it was Jerome's.

Jerome.  
The smile slipped off of his face.

Their trip to the UK.  
The eruptions and the weather conditions.  
A lightning strike-  
Airplane. Crash.

A strangled moan escaped his lips, immediately he tried to sit up, but something restrained him, held him firmly in place- The seatbelt. Mitch's heart beat faster and the panic rose; he had been in a fucking _plane crash!_ His right hand was shaking heavily and it took him a lifetime to open the clasp at the front. He had to get out immediately, he couldn't die, no, not here, not now.  
With a click he was freed from the seatbelt, but as he tried to get into a position to stand up – _Don't look around, there have to be dead people sitting around you, just don't look up!_ – he remembered his occupied left hand. Mitch paled and stopped breathing for a second.

Jerome.  
He had been sitting on the seat next to him, trying to calm him down shortly before the lightning had hit the plane. His hand was cold. The panic intensified tenfold and with a desperate outcry Mitch turned in his seat, suppressed the tears and laid his eyes on his best friend.

His body was slumped in the seat, completely motionless and pale under the moonlight, their only light source at the moment. The seatbelt had held him in place, but his head rested on his chest, eyes closed.

"Jerome?"  
No answer.

"B- … Biggums?"  
His voice broke at the end of the so familiar nickname, something wet ran down his cheek, probably tears, but Jerome didn't stir. _You are_ _ **not**_ _dead, no-_

"No, no, no, no, **NO**!"

His scream echoed in the cabin, but not a single response could be heard. Again his mind forbade him to look up, the thought too cruel, too mind-shattering for Mitch to comprehend at the time.  
"You are _not_ dead, Jerome, you are _not_ leaving me behind!"  
Shaking hands let go of his cold one, felt for a pulse, a breath, a movement, anything really that didn't validate his lethal suspicion… A groan. A deep breath. Then nothing.

It was enough for Mitch to cry out in joy, as he retrieved his hands and buried them deep in his hair, leaning back slightly from the just unconscious form of his best friend. Slowly he put his hands down again, something wet was on the fingers of his right one, probably from the rain. Mitch was about to lean forward to rest against the moving chest of Jerome for a moment, just to pull himself together, but something held him back. An eerie feeling reminded him of the _others_ , he couldn't turn his back on them without knowing whether they were alive or dead. He had to at least be able to see movements from the corners of his eyes, so that Mitch could be a little bit more confident that he wasn't losing his mind any second.

He was on the brink of panicking and just the thought of his mother kept him sane for the moment. What would he give to hear her voice again, for a little moment, telling him he only had a bad dream and imagined everything…  
Curiously – and to keep him mind occupied – Mitch put a hand in the pocket of his hoodie and pulled out his phone. Carefully he inspected it, turned it over in his hand and then touched the display. A glad sigh escaped his throat and something related to a smile tucked on the corners of his lips, as it lit up. He had to call help, his parents, Jerome's… But first of all he had to find out where he was. Being busy kept him from thinking about the other passengers, about the little kids in one of the front rows, happily talking about their first flight just some mere moments ago.

Slowly Mitch slid forward and planted his feet on the ground – with a splashing noise.  
"What the-"  
The dim light of the moon hadn't been bright enough before to show him where exactly they had landed. Water flooded the ground of the cabin, already ankle-deep and steadily rising. They had crashed into the lake that had been visible from the plane. Somewhere near this little town, where the roads were flooded with water as well.

This time Mitch couldn't ignore the rising panic inside of him and with trembling hands he pushed himself off of his seat. His gaze was firmly placed on the ground and on his wet feet, not on the person sitting beside Jerome, not on the stewardess lying in the middle of the aisle in a position that could impossibly be healthy.

 _One step at a time.  
Just go on._

Mitch froze as he reached the end of the aisle abruptly and looked up at the lake itself. The rest of the plane, half of it, was missing completely. "Oh god- shit!" He bend forward, trying to keep himself from vomiting and took multiple deep breaths. All those people, they had been in a big plane, the children, the mothers, the friends-

"Don't think about it, Mitch," he whispered with a hoarse voice and tried to remember what was most important at the moment. Jerome. Right. He had to get him out of the plane, before it pulled him into an icy death, because Jerome was still alive, still breathing.

Mitch got back into action, ignored the pain in his head at his abrupt movement and looked for the shore, before he took out his still working phone. As careful as possible he threw the device onto the not too far away shore, hoped for the best and then turned around to get back to Jerome. He was still out cold, but his chest moved steadily. Mitch nearly buckled under the weight of his friend, as he heaved him through the small aisle back to the unnatural opening, but the fear and his steely determination kept him going on. Without checking Jerome's phone, he threw it towards the shore as well, hoping that it would survive the impact.

 _Keep breathing_ , he told himself.  
 _Keep going. Jerome needs you._

As Mitch slipped into the ice-cold water of the lake, he gasped in shock, but tried to ignore the cold that gnawed on his bones while pulling Jerome into the water as well. With every inch that he approached the shore his arms put on weight and the cold was paralyzing his limbs. After what felt like an eternity they finally reached the shallow part of the lake and as soon as they reached the dry land, Mitch laid his friend down and collapsed at his side.

Every deep breath hurt in his lungs and the cold was omnipresent. For a moment he could do nothing else than to lie motionlessly on the hard ground and to stare at the still unconscious form of Jerome.

Something felt off.  
He was still exhausted, nonetheless Mitch sat up again and looked for their phones. He couldn't relax, not now, when his emotions and thoughts were constantly roaming around the guilt he should feel at leaving everyone behind, while he was the only one who could help them at the moment.  
The phones weren't too far off and his was still working, while Jerome's had a big crack on its display. He put both near Jerome and was about to turn around again, as he accidently touched his display and the background lit up with the photo of his family. He was standing at the side of his dad, smiling happily into the camera, while the rest was surrounding them, Connor standing in front of him.

Connor.  
The children.  
He knew what felt off.

A voice reached his ears again, distant and barely audible, but it definitely came from the plane in the middle of the lake. It was a child's voice, screaming for help. Mitch hadn't even checked up on the children in the front rows.  
It only took him mere seconds to doff his hoodie and to lay it onto Jerome to protect him from the cold as best as he could. Another second later he jumped back into the lake and swam to the sinking plane with a pounding heartbeat.

Of course he couldn't leave them behind, neither the children, nor the other passengers. He was the only one conscious right now, the only hope they still had at surviving. Never in his remaining life would Mitch be able to forgive himself, if he would let everyone die without at least trying to save them.  
It was easy to climb back into the destroyed half of the plane, because it was lower than before and the water was already reaching his knees. The mysterious voice had disappeared.

"Hello?! Can someone hear me?"  
His voice cracked and without repeating his words Mitch went forwards and then finally looked into the halfway intact rows of seats. The light of the moon was very dim inside of the cabin and Mitch was thankful for it, because the sight of the bloody and broken bodies of the other passengers was devastating enough as it was. He kept moving, slowly and with shaking hands. Jerome and he had survived the impossible, but looking at the rest of the people Mitch couldn't believe that they actually did. Was it-

"H- … Here…"  
Mitch stilled completely for a second, before he dashed as best as he could through the water to get to the front rows. A little girl sat on the right side between two adults. Her long blond hair covered parts of her face, but the loud sobs were evidence enough that she was crying. Mitch thanked his parents a thousand times in his mind for his little brother, as he knelt down in front of her.

"Hey sweetie."  
Immediately she looked up, tried to brush her hair aside from her eyes and then began with a fearful voice, "Please help me, my mommy isn't answering me-"  
Heavy sobs interrupted her and as Mitch felt the water rise, he opened her seatbelt and pulled the struggling child into his arms. "It'll be okay, hold still, please. I'll look after her in a second, but first of all I have to get you out of here, alright?" She stopped struggling, buried her face in the crook of his neck and slowly nodded, while Mitch fought his way back through the ice-cold water.

"Can you swim?" he asked and tried to keep her eyes away from the other people. The poor child must have been traumatized enough for a lifetime already, no need for Mitch to worsen it. Again she carefully nodded and continued to sob, while she tried to answer, "Daddy tried t- to teach me, but I- I'm not very good at it."

"Is your dad on the plane as well?"  
As she silently nodded her head, something cold spread in his stomach. One of them had to be alive, otherwise she would be all alone. A little girl, losing both of her parents-

 _Stop thinking, just go on_. The voice in his head returned.  
 _Jerome and the girl both need you.  
Just focus. Just keep going._

"Okay, listen. I will try to lift you as high as I can and you raise your arms. Try to climb onto the roof, so that I can look for your parents, while you are safe. Understood?"  
Without answering she bravely raised her short arms and standing on the edge, Mitch fought against the current and lifted her up. "Don't hurt yourself," he warned and looked at the sharp and torn off edges of the plane, but she avoided them all and managed to get safely onto the roof.

Mitch was already about to go back into the plane again, but something held him back.  
"What's your name?" he asked and tried to sound as reassuring and carefree as possible. Whenever Connor had been upset or sad about something, young Mitch had managed to cheer him up or calm him down with the way he talked to him. Now it seemed to work with the young girl as well, because the sobs slowly died down, as she tried to focus on him.

"I- I'm Joanna."  
She was looking over the edge at him and with a little smile he answered,  
"I'm Mitch. Will be back in a minute, alright?"

A little part of him wondered, how he was still able to keep himself together, but another part urged him to wade further through the water, always the parents of Joanna in his mind. And he still had to check on the other passengers. Some of them had to be alive.

With a stronger voice than before Mitch began to shout, "Hey, wake up! Can anyone hear me?! You have to wake up, now!"  
Nothing. The panic began to creep back into his body and filled his veins, until he arrived at the front rows again with a pounding heart. They couldn't be the only ones. Impossible. Someone had to wake up.

Joanna's parents didn't respond to him as well, as he tried to wake them up more firmly. With a shaking hand he checked for their pulses, at first on their throats, then on their wrists. Nothing. Holding his breath Mitch leaned forward and waited for them to exhale. They never did.

The panic overwhelmed him.  
"No, please don't, you have to wake up! Oh god, please wake up, you can't be dead, don't leave her behind, **wake up**!"

"What the fuck is going on here?"  
A slurred voice made his heart freeze again and with wide open eyes Mitch looked up and into the cabin. The moonlight was reflected on the surface of the water, which was reaching up to the passengers' chests already. He wasted no more time, emerged from the narrow row and waded up to a row in the middle. A man, who probably was a few years younger than his father, sat at a window seat and breathed heavily. As soon as he saw Mitch, he raised his arms out of the water and reached for him.

"Help me, please!"  
Mitch had no time to respond, so he leaned forward over the still bodies of the other two passengers, flinched heavily as a floating arm brushed his side and reached blindly into the water. "What about the seatbelt? I can't see it, you have to open it," he said with a strained voice and reached for a seat to keep himself in place. The current was even stronger than before and the water level already reached the chin of the man. Mitch wouldn't be able to check on the other passengers. His stomach clenched painfully.  
"Hurry!" he urged, but even though the man struggled to open the seatbelt, nothing happened. "It's stuck!"

Mitch took a deep breath and dived down into the darkness.  
He could barely see a thing, but the seatbelt seemed to be fine. With rapid movements he grabbed the clasp, but it didn't budge. Desperate to free the man Mitch tried it again and again, until the pressure became too much and he surfaced to gasp for air. The face of the man was barely above the water, which was about to reach the roof very soon.

"Joanna?!" he cried out and waited for the quiet response, before he continued.  
"Try to swim to the shore in the direction where my friend lies on the grass! Do you see him?" She couldn't wait for him, because the plane would suck her under the water as soon as it would disappear below the surface. Her only chance would be to go on without him and Mitch prayed to every god that she was good enough at swimming to reach the other side safely.

"I do! But what about you? Where are my parents?!"

"I'll follow you in a second, just go!"  
The splashing noise of Joanna jumping into the water was a relief and without wasting another second, Mitch dived down again. At the same time the man took the last possible breath, because the water level rose too high.

Mitch could see even less than before and trying another tactic, he grabbed the clasp with both hands as best as he could and planted his feet underneath the front seat. With as much force as possible Mitch pulled on the clasp and pushed with his feet against the metal of the other seat. Suddenly the pressure was gone, the seat belt opened and before Mitch could react, the man swam up towards the surface.

Glad about his success against death Mitch wanted to push himself off to follow him.  
Somehow it didn't work.

He tried it again, but something kept him back and hindered him from swimming away. The fear raised his heartbeat and his lungs began to burn. Mitch needed to breathe desperately, but his right foot didn't budge. It was stuck between the bend metal of the front seat and no matter how much he pulled or tried to move it, he couldn't free himself.

Clutching at the seat Mitch looked up towards the fading light, while the plane sank lower and lower...

* * *

Chapter 2:  
 _Day 0 - Drowning_

How ironic that he was going to die surrounded by the corpses of the passengers, who didn't survive the plane crash.  
How ironic that he was about to drown, after he had managed the impossible and actually survived something as fatal as that.

A deadly calm took control of Mitch, the panic began to vanish from his veins as well as the adrenaline. The urge to breathe grew and trying to hold it back, Mitch closed his eyes to focus for a second.  
Faces appeared in front of his inner eye – his parents, his siblings, his friends back in Montreal and the guys from _The Pack_ , his former friends, Ty, Adam…

 **Coming Oct 3rd / 4th**


	3. Chapter 2: Day 0 - Drowning

**AN:** Before the chapter starts I wanna thank **KKKstories** for leaving a nice review! :)

* * *

 **Music tip:  
Loreen – Do We Even Matter  
youtube: **watch?v=mSBLnX2kopg

* * *

State of Emergency

 **Chapter 2:  
** _Day 0 - Drowning_

* * *

The panic hit Mitch with full force, as he realized that he was about to drown. The intense burning in his lungs and the desire to just _breathe_ were so strong that he could barely hold himself together.  
As soon as the light of the moon had disappeared, Mitch wasn't able to see anything anymore. With erratic movements he tried to free himself from the deadly clutch of the seat in front of him, but he couldn't get his foot out of his shoe because of the angle. Every desperate attempt grew weaker, he could feel his too strong heartbeat getting slower and slower, while he blinked in the direction of the surface.

How ironic that he was going to die surrounded by the corpses of the passengers, who didn't survive the plane crash.  
How ironic that he was about to drown, after he had managed the impossible and actually survived something as fatal as that.

A deadly calm took control of Mitch, the panic began to vanish from his veins as well as the adrenaline. The urge to breathe grew and trying to hold it back, Mitch closed his eyes to focus for a second.  
Faces appeared in front of his inner eye – his parents, his siblings, his friends back in Montreal and the guys from _The Pack_ , his former friends, Ty, Adam…

Jerome.  
He would be fine, Joanna and the man Mitch had rescued as well.

They would be alright, Mitch had saved them from a watery grave. Joanna for sure had some relatives back home, an aunt or an uncle, maybe her grandparents would take care of her. Jerome would be sad about his death, they had been best friends for so many years, but that wasn't important, because he was breathing and alive and not dead and not crushed under the pressure of the water and _alive and alive and_ _**alive**_ _…_

Mitch slowly opened his eyes even though he couldn't see a thing, not his hand, not the other dead people, not the seat that turned out to be a death trap.

The pressure grew and finally became too much.  
He opened his mouth, bubbles floated towards the surface and cold water ran down his throat. Automatically he tried to cough it out again, but instead of relieving fresh air more water followed, he started to choke, his heartbeat slowed down further, dots appeared in front of his eyes-

Then Mitch passed out.

He neither noticed the person appearing in front of him and freeing his leg, nor the strong arm around his chest, as he was being pulled up to the surface of the lake. He didn't hear the desperate scream from the shore, as his best friend saw him unconscious and deadly pale in the arms of his savior. He didn't feel the pressure on his chest and the soft lips on his mouth, as they tried to get his heart to beat again.

But he felt teardrops on his face. He heard the begging words of Jerome to come back to him. He noticed the trembling hand on his chin, opening his mouth to give him the much needed air.

With a loud and throaty coughing the water found its way out of Mitch's lungs. Someone rolled him over onto his side so that he wouldn't choke on it again, then he felt a shaking hand brushing the wet strands of hair out of his face tenderly. Voices blurred together, but instead of trying to figure out who exactly was talking, Mitch tried to breathe properly again. His chest burned and the pain was nearly overwhelming, but every breath he took was a relief, no matter how much it hurt.

"-nearly drowned, we have to get him to a-"  
"I know… Where the heck are-"  
"-should've been here alr-"

Mitch's mind took an eternity to finally figure out the origin of the voices. As he realized who was talking – and who had been by his side before in his half-dead state, Mitch's eyes flew open and he muttered with a hoarse voice, "J- Jerome?"  
The talking ceased immediately and footsteps could be heard, then someone appeared by his side. The bright smile and the shining relief in Jerome's eyes were blinding, as Mitch was hugged tightly. "You damn idiot, don't you dare doing that again!"

"What, saving you guys?"

"Nearly dying on me. When I woke up and that girl told me you didn't return from the fricking wreck, I was flipping out already, but then Sam pulled you out of the lake looking practically dead… Just don't do it again. I need you, stupid Benja."

"Who's Sam?" Mitch asked with a raspy voice and Jerome eyed him worriedly for a second, before he sat up again so that Mitch could slowly roll onto his back, as the man Mitch had saved turned up on his left side. "I am. Thanks for saving me by the way."  
He had messy, dirty blond hair and dark eyes, but his frame became blurred the more Mitch tried to focus on him. "No problem. Where's Joanna?" he replied weakly and closed his eyes for a moment in hopes that the world would stop spinning again. Jerome's hand grabbed his shoulder, while Mitch took a deep breath and listening to Sam's answer he opened his eyes again.

"She's right here."  
Behind Sam the little blond girl appeared and the tears in her eyes made Mitch's heart break. She didn't even need to ask the question, because it was obvious from her expression that she already knew the answer for it. "I'm sorry Joanna, I'm so, so sorry," he whispered and gulped, as her lower lip began to tremble. He started rambling. "Believe me that I tried my best, but it was a-"

She didn't give him the chance to continue, as she threw herself unexpectedly into his arms and began to cry. Desperately Mitch tried to suppress his own tears, but it was a vain attempt due to Joanna's heartbreaking sobs. Again and again she cried for both of her parents and her small hands grabbed Mitch's wet shirt even tighter. With one hand he held the young girl close to give her some comfort, but he laid the other one over his eyes to hide the tears streaming down his own face.

He should've done more.  
Maybe they had been alive earlier, when he had talked to Joanna.  
Maybe he should've checked her parents even before he had taken her to the roof of the plane.  
Maybe they hadn't been dead and he had just mistaken the signs.

"I'm going to look if the ambulances are on their way already,"  
Sam said with a low voice and stood up to leave them alone for a few moments. Jerome, who really didn't know what this was about, hesitated and tried to comfort the both of them in a silent way. Mitch knew that one of his hands rubbed Joanna's back slowly, because he always brushed Mitch's arm gently before going back up. His other one held Mitch's shoulder tightly.

It took them some minutes to compose themselves.  
Joanna was buried in Mitch's arms and had fallen asleep. With a sigh he brushed the last tears off of his face and then faced Jerome, who silently watched him. It was obvious what he wanted to ask Mitch, but he didn't dare to do so. "It's about her parents," he began quietly, so that he wouldn't wake the girl up again. "They were in the plane and I tried to save them, but…"

He fell silent and looked into the other direction, away from Jerome.  
"Idiot. It's not your fault."  
"Maybe I could've done something, anything. There was time left, I cou-"

"There wasn't any time, Mitch. You nearly drowned while saving Sam, you couldn't have done anything. It's a miracle that you saved three people in this mess!" His words helped, they always did and before Jerome continued, he leaned forward to whisper into Mitch's ear, "So stop being an idiot, because if I have to praise you any more, your ego is going to explode."  
A smile tugged at the corners of his lips and he looked at Jerome with a thankful expression.

"So how much time passed?" he asked and tried to change the topic.  
"No idea. Maybe 15 minutes? Not much, but I would have thought that by now the ambulance and a bunch of officials would be here. I mean, they must have seen the plane go down, right? They have radars and ways to communicate with the pilot. It so weird."

"Wasn't there a town nearby?"  
"The one with the flooded roads? Right, it can't be that far away. They should've noticed, too."

Both fell silent again, wondering about the circumstances, as Sam approached them slowly. He seemed to wave Jerome over and with a last glance at Mitch and Joanna he stood up. "Try to rest a little bit, you must still be exhausted and I don't want to worry about you again." A smile and a reassuring nod, then Jerome disappeared. Something had to be going on and Sam for sure knew about it. Was it so bad that he didn't want Mitch to know?  
The headache began to increase the more he tried to think about it and so he took several deep breaths, tried to relax and closed his eyes.

* * *

He felt like drifting.  
The coldness and the pain had disappeared and only had left a content feeling behind. Everything around him was of a deep pitch-black, but it was rather comforting than disturbing, as his bodiless soul soared through infinity.

" _Mr. Hughes?"  
_ …that was his name, right?

" _Mitchell, can you hear me?"  
_ Yes, right. He remembered.  
…he remembered everything.

With a gasp he opened his eyes. His body tensed and he groaned, as the pain hit him head-on. The light was too intense, he tried to bury his face in the soft pillow below him, but the loud beeping noise pulled him even further away from the comforting darkness at the edge of his consciousness.

"Mr. Hughes, please calm down!"  
A female voice talked to him, he could feel a hand on his arm and still lay on his left side, while the panic began to flare up once more. She talked again, but this time in a lower voice and to someone else. Then she was closer and spoke to him with a calming voice, "Mitchell, we give you a sedative to calm you down a bit, your heart rate is too high for my liking, alright?"  
He didn't protest and a minute later the panic disappeared slowly. Finally he was more aware of his surroundings than before and dared to turn onto his back to stare around the room he was in. The doctor – she must have been one – was gone from the small hospital room and it wasn't large enough to host more than one patient. The beeping noise was from a machine to his left and showed his heart rate. Just then did he notice the small tube, which was connected with his hand and a small bag. It probably provided him with the necessary nutritions or medicine his body needed.

The door opened and before Mitch had the chance to turn his head to the right again, someone pulled him into a tight hug. "You're alright, thank god! I was so worried when they brought you in yesterday and you didn't wake up. Your-"  
Jerome. The smile on Mitch's face was barely visible, but the knowledge not to be alone here in this situation was a massive relief. He wanted to interrupt his best friend, but he wasn't able to say a single word. Instead his throat began to contract around something blocking the way. Jerome noticed and put a hand on his cheek to keep him from freaking out. The sedative did the rest.

"They had to intubate you yesterday because you still weren't breathing properly. The whole nearly-drowning incident, you know? As far as I know they want to remove it in a few minutes, so just… be calm, please."

Jerome was right and several minutes and some pain later Mitch was able to talk again without a tube in his throat. His voice was hoarse and each word barely understandable, but he preferred it nonetheless. "What happened?"

"You were unconscious, when the rescue workers arrived. They took us to a hospital in Macclesfield, which is about 15 minutes away from Chelford, the place we went down. That was yesterday, then they examined us and we all had to stay at least a day – you some more of course," Jerome explained patiently and sat on the edge of Mitch's bed in his normal clothes. He was interrupted by loud voices from the hallway and from the small window Mitch could see several people running around. With a frown on his face he asked, "Why are they-"

"Mitch… there is some serious shit going on here right now."  
Jerome seemed to take a moment to think about his following words and Mitch began to get worried. He still had the words from the newscaster in his mind. Volcanic eruptions. Severe weather conditions affecting Europe.

"The situation is way worse than we thought. Manchester and everything to the North and West of it are restricted areas right now! Those volcanic eruptions? Probably… what was it called? Right, tectonic movements. They would be responsible for the floods and the eruptions, but they're not sure. Right now people are just freaking out. Your parents as well by the way."

Jerome's explanation sounded as if he had taken it straight from an action movie, but it would actually explain a lot. And the situation couldn't be _that_ bad, could it?  
"You talked to my family?" Mitch finally asked after taking some moments to think about Jerome's words, but his voice sounded more emotional than he had intended it to be. His best friend though just smiled and nodded. "Had to explain to them why you were unable to call, you know? They are really worried… you should call them." Jerome grabbed his shoulder tightly, then he stood up and went to the door. "I'll be with Joanna if you need me, room 503. Call them."

"You know that using cell phones in hospitals isn't allowed, don't you?"  
"What they don't know won't hurt them."

Jerome left the room and the Canadian behind. Two seconds later Mitch struggled to get his phone, which was placed on the nightstand to his right. In Europe it was some time in the afternoon, so at home it should be morning already. His hands were shaking horribly as he typed the familiar number and he couldn't stop his lower lip from trembling as well.  
He had survived a plane crash and nearly drowned – he desperately needed some comforting words from his family.

" _Mitch?!"  
_ The voice of his mother sounded distant, as if she had put him on speakerphone, but he couldn't care less as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "It's me," he muttered and tried to hold back the tears. Several voices were audible in the background, talking all at once until he could make out the voice of his father silencing them. "Dad," he exclaimed with something similar to a shaky laugh and a moment later he spoke to Mitch with the calmness he needed the most right now.

" _How are you? Jerome told us what happened-"  
_ The memories came back and even though they had been lurking in the back of his mind, he was overwhelmed by the intensity of them. Joanna's cries, her dead parents, the stewardess' broken body staring aimlessly down the aisle, the seconds in which he had thought his best friend to be dead, the water surrounding him with no way of breathing…  
His father wasn't able to finish his sentence, as Mitch burst into tears. He tried to suppress the sobs, but the silence on the other end of the line was clear enough. "I'm sorry, I just-… Just get me out of here, please."

Mitch never pleaded.  
He never cried in front of his family.

But the situation was too much for him. How was he supposed to deal with it? How was he supposed to be the same happy and carefree guy, when he had witnessed people dying around him?  
It was in moments like these that he became aware of his age. Suddenly it wasn't important anymore how much he had achieved already or that he had been living in his own house for quite some time now.

A sympathetic sigh.  
" _You have nothing to be sorry for, buddy. We're trying to move heaven and hell right now to get you guys back, Jerome's father seems to have connections to someone from the military. Apparently they're thinking about evacuating certain areas and bringing citizens of America back stateside."  
_ "Jerome's family is with you?"

" _Yes, they came over as soon as the news about the plane crash came,"_ his father replied, but his calmness disappeared with a heavier sigh than before. _"We were freaking out as we got the message from the airline that is was your plane, but thankfully Jerome called us shortly afterwards and told us what happened."_

Mitch hesitated for a moment and couldn't suppress another sob, while he tried to brush the tears away from his cheeks. "What did he tell you?"  
" _Everything dear and we couldn't be more proud of you,"_ his mother answered this time and from the sound of her shaky voice his outburst of tears had left its mark on her too. Then she continued more firmly, _"But if you ever dare to risk your life like that again, Mitchell, I'm going to lock you up in our house forever, got that?"_

The sobs subsided and he was even able to chuckle a little bit, as he answered, "Understood, mom."


	4. Chapter 3: Day 4 - Leaving

**AN:** Before the chapter starts I wanna thank **NellisEllis** for the nice comment! :)

* * *

 **Music tip:  
Rhodes - Worry  
youtube: **watch?v=Ij1yi7km12s

* * *

State of Emergency

 **Chapter 3:  
** _Day 4 - Leaving_

* * *

Mitch hadn't been often in hospitals.  
Nonetheless the _Macclesfield General District Hospital_ seemed to be rather small. Admittedly there was a canteen for the families and friends of the patients as well as the hospital staff, but it could only hold so many people and definitely not the masses that currently roamed the hallways.

"To be honest this is the only thing that makes the whole situation at least a little bit more real," Jerome admitted and looked back to Mitch, who was still lying in his bed. "The plane crash?"  
"No, this Europe-is-going-down situation. I mean, I see the reports in the news and stuff, but it just sounds like one of those countless movies to me. The plane crash? It feels like a bad dream right now-"

"Bad dream. Yeah, right."  
Mitch couldn't stop himself from using a bitter tone and he quickly looked out of the window and over the quiet and small town of Macclesfield. In the past three days he hadn't slept a single night without a nightmare about dead bodies, a death trap made out of steel and Jerome, who just wasn't moving…  
Not a second later he felt a hand on his arm, holding on to him with slight hesitation, then he felt the weight of a body sitting down on the edge of his bed. He sighed and tried to calm his friend down, "It's okay, Jerome, don't worry about-"

"No it's not. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so insensitive."  
The hand disappeared from Mitch's arms and instead the American pulled him into a hug. Whenever they had somehow stumbled upon the topic of their unplanned arrival in Great Britain, Jerome had been unusually… close. Mitch had been sure that it would have made him snap sooner or later, but the comforting embrace and Jerome's reassuring words were actually helping him to keep a clear head.

"You shouldn't even have a reason for worrying about being insensitive in the first place," he murmured, leaned against Jerome's chest and closed his eyes, as his arms wrapped around Mitch like a protective blanket.  
"I know. We never should have insisted on flying," Jerome answered with a dark voice and Mitch involuntarily tensed. With a barely audible voice he replied, "No, I don't mean that. You were in that crash, too, but I have to-"

"Stop it. You're not weak, Mitch, don't you even dare thinking something stupid like that!"

"No, I… I know. It's just… I'm a crybaby. I actually bawled my eyes out, when I was calling my family."

Jerome chuckled and grabbed Mitch tighter, who put his arms around the other's waist. This situation was completely new, but it was because of Mitch's need for some comfort, right? Jerome knew how to cheer him up with little gestures, so it was perfectly normal…  
Right?

"Mitch, it's alright, believe me. I would be more worried if you wouldn't, to be honest."

"But you don't cry about it."

"I did."  
Mitch forced himself to loosen his grip on Jerome a little bit and stared at his best friend with wide opened eyes. "When?" he asked confused and finally Jerome let go of him, so that Mitch could lie down properly again. "Idiot. I cried when I told our parents what was going on. I cried when you wouldn't wake up. I cried when Jo was mourning for her parents while sitting at your side."

With an honest smile on his face Mitch pulled his best friend into another hug.  
"Thanks, Biggums."  
The warm hands returned to his back and enjoying their little peaceful moment together, Jerome leaned his head against Mitch's and exhaled deeply. "No problem, Benja. I have honestly no clue what you would do without me."

The door opened and Sam, followed by Jo, entered the room to a happily laughing Mitch. Both let go of their embrace and turned their heads to the newcomers, but Mitch stopped laughing as soon as he saw the serious expression on Sam's face. "What happened?"

"We have to leave."

For a moment everyone kept silent, even Jo, who quickly walked over to the bed and crawled onto it to lie between Mitch and Jerome. Sam's words seemed to be quite harmless. Maybe the three of their little group had to finally find a small accommodation, because everyone except for Mitch was actually ready to be released, but the hidden message between his words was indicating for something more grave. Since no one said anything, Sam sat down onto a chair by Mitch's bed and began to explain.

"The doctor has examined you this morning, Mitch, and he came to the conclusion that you're ready to leave. Normally you would have stayed in the hospital just for a couple of days longer, so that they could have an eye on you, but things are… different. There are too many people from the flooded regions, who are in desperate need of some medical attention."

Mitch wasn't able to follow his chain of thoughts, but Jerome made it clear.  
"So basically they're throwing us out, because there are too many patients?"

"Exactly."  
Another second was filled with silence, when Jo finally caught Mitch's attention. With big blue eyes she stared at him, then she came closer and put her arms around his waist. Her face was buried in his chest and a warm feeling spread in his whole body, while he wrapped his arms around her and listened to her shaking voice.

"Where will we go now? Do I have to live on the streets, since I'm all alone?"  
She began to cry again and Jerome was about to take her, as Mitch shook his head, pulled the little girl onto his lap and then stroke her long blonde hair.  
"No sweetie, I will make sure that you have a place to stay at. Besides you're not alone, are you?"

"…I'm not?"

"Of course not," he replied with a cheery smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You've got Jerome, Sam and me!" She tried to smile as well, but the tears still streamed down her face. With a shaking hand Mitch tried to brush them away, as Jerome put a comforting hand on his back. Again a little gesture to keep him sane, because Jerome knew what seeing Jo did to him.

It reminded him of her dead parents.  
Of his failure to save them.  
Of a difficult future for a little girl, who had deserved so much more.  
And finally it reminded him of his little brother. Connor.

He missed his family endlessly and couldn't wait to finally get off this godforsaken place. As soon as he would step off the plane, he would embrace each and every one of them, until his arms would give out. Then he would go back to normal – record some videos, chat with his friends, hang out with Jerome-  
Normality.

He didn't know cute little Joanna, but her kindness and her worry for someone, who was a complete stranger for her, were adorable traits. Mitch had saved her from the wreck, so he would make sure that she was save and with people she trusted, even if it would take him ages.  
And Sam… He was different. The panic in his eyes, when he had been about to drown, had disappeared and not once had Mitch seen it again in his eyes. Something regarding his appearance and his way to speak was telling him that he for sure was more than just a simple passenger from the air plane on his way to a nice vacation, but Jerome didn't know more about him either so far.

"So where are we going then? Did we get a plane already? You did talk to this official, right?" asked Jerome and tried to get back to the original topic successfully. Sam, who seemed to be glad to get away from the emotional side of things and back to something he understood, nodded and then replied, "I actually did. There are still no planes flying due to the ash clouds and the weather conditions, but they will bring us in a refugee camp in about an hour. From there on we will be able to get back to the States again."

* * *

"Well… I didn't expect there to be that… many."  
Sam was the first to step off the transporter they had been on during their ride from Macclesfield to an area just outside of Birmingham. Other people had been sitting in the vehicle as well, but many had sad and frightened looks on their faces. Children had been crying and Jo had snuggled up against Mitch's side, while some adults had told them about the situation in Manchester, where they had been coming from.

It hadn't stopped raining since it had begun three days ago and meteorologists blamed the thick ash clouds for it. An earthquake had hit somewhere between Iceland and the coast of Great Britain, which was responsible for the flooded areas in and around Manchester. Mitch didn't say a word, but as he looked towards Jerome, his friend seemed to share the same thought. They would have been in the middle of a mass hysteria, if the flight had continued as it should have. Nonetheless Mitch would've preferred the panic a thousand times for what had happened instead.

"This is so unreal," Jerome agreed and stepped forward to get a better view on the countless tents, soldiers and masses of people. The rest of the group followed and stared as well, when their driver appeared by their side and gave them some information about the next steps.  
Directly behind the entrance was one of the larger tents they were supposed to go in first. They would be registered and sorted to a tent. Another large one was supplying everyone with food and water, another one held something close to showers and toilets. The driver disappeared and the group began to move towards the registration, but Mitch hesitated.

He didn't want this.  
There had to be a way off the island, a ferry, a cruise liner, something to escape this nightmare.

Mitch wanted to turn around in full-fledged panic, as a small hand grasped his own.  
"M- Mitch?"  
Jo. She was crying again and he froze on the spot filled with guilt. He had promised to keep an eye on her. He had promised to not leave her alone. "I'm afraid, can you…"  
She was too shy to continue with her plea, but her clinging to him was obvious enough. With a for once honest smile he bend down and she stretched her arms to put them around his neck, as he scooped her up and held her close. "Better?"

The happy smile on her face was absolutely breathtaking.  
"Better!"

She needed him and even thought they didn't really know each other, he was the closest person she had at the moment. No friends, no relatives were here for her and especially being so young she must be scared out of her mind.  
And her parents died.

He couldn't imagine how it must be for her.  
Just the thought of something happening to his parents was horrible and made his heart race, because he always had valued their advise, love and patience for him. She needed him to be there, until she was safe and sound with someone she was familiar with.

With a content Jo on his arms Mitch entered the tent together with Sam and Jerome to get registered – which was harder than they had expected at first. All their identifications had been lost and several phone calls had to be made, until they finally got a tent just for the four of them at the back of the camp. Jo had fallen asleep during all the commotion and Mitch tried to hurry and get her out of the storm, because it was still raining. Thankfully the ground was paved and drains in the ground were preventing the camp from being under water.

"Here it is, the number is the same," Jerome broke the silence and let Mitch go through the entrance first. The tent was large enough to hold six cots with blankets and some towels, but other than that there was nothing else. It was good enough for the moment, but it felt too clean and sterile to Mitch, as he carefully put the still sleeping Jo on one of the beds in the middle.

"We have three hours until they give out something for dinner, so what do we do in the meantime?"  
Jerome kept his voice down so that he wouldn't wake up Jo and Mitch threw a thankful glance in his direction, before he continued to dry off Jo's hair carefully. "Why don't we get to know each other a little bit better? Seems like we're stuck here for a few more days," Mitch replied and then looked up straight towards Sam, who still stood by the entrance of their tent. The smile on his face somehow felt unreal for the Canadian and he frowned, as Sam decided to stay silent.

"Why don't you begin?"  
The smile simply grew and fueled Mitch's anger.

"You're awfully familiar with what to do in a situation like this, so what is it? Do you know more than us about what's going on? Did you experience something like that already? Maybe your job has something to do with it? What is it?"  
He was impatient, tired and emotionally exhausted, but Sam didn't seem to mind. Instead he nodded, uncrossed his arms and then said, before he left the tent, "I'll tell you if you insist, but it's a story for another time. I'll try to find out when they'll let the planes fly again, see you at dinner."


	5. Chapter 4: Day 5 - Sparring

**Music tip:  
Halsey – Hold Me Down  
youtube: **watch?v=xKnG2d9tZdU

* * *

State of Emergency

 **Chapter 4:  
** _Day 5 - Sparring_

* * *

A day later it was still raining.  
Jerome and Jo had returned to the tent after they had gotten something to eat for lunch, while Mitch and Sam had decided to go back to the first tent they had entered the camp through. They still had no information about what would happen next and from what Mitch had picked up during lunch, others had neither. When they arrived there was already a line in the back of the tent with people wanting their questions answered and Mitch got in line with a sigh.

"This probably takes a while, I see what I can find out from those guys over there," Sam said and then turned around, before Mitch had the chance to answer him. With steady steps he approached a group of soldiers, but they didn't mind his company and began to talk to him.

"What's up with this suspicious glance, pretty boy?"

Mitch flinched and turned around to look at the woman standing in front of him in the line. Her dark blonde and shoulder-length hair framed her face perfectly and her ice-blue eyes were piercing him, while she smiled openly. She seemed to be Sam's age and under a jacket she was rather formally dressed. With a frown he looked back into her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Is this guy bothering you in any way?" she asked with an appearing frown on her face and the smile disappeared. Mitch burst out laughing. "No, not really, he's just not telling me what I want to know right now."  
She blinked and then slightly blushed, while they both began to muster Sam in his conversation with the foreign soldiers. "I'm sorry, it's a nasty habit of mine to fall back into a work-related state of mind, when I'm nervous or tense."

"Work-related?" Mitch questioned and kept his eyes on his withdrawn companion. He had to wait anyway to finally be next, so he didn't mind some company at all. She seemed to be clumsy but wicked in the way she talked, so she maybe was able to distract him from the dark thoughts in his mind.

"I'm working as a lawyer. Just moved from New York to Manchester a week ago to get some experience abroad, because it's good for my reputation they said and now look in what kind of a mess I am in. I guess karma is a bitch, since I was responsible for my colleague being fired, so… yeah," she happily chatted away but didn't seem to give a crap about the frightening situation they were in. Mitch only grinned and shook his head, but the amusement in his chest was real and something he had direly needed in the last few days.

"Well, nice to meet you mysterious lawyer-lady, I'm Mitch Hughes," he finally introduced himself and extended his hand, which she shook firmly a second later. "Nice to meet you too, Mitch, the mysterious lawyer-lady goes by the name Teresa Whiles."

"Teresa. It's a nice name," he tried to be polite, but she made a shocked face and replied, "Nope, not at all, my mother had to name me after her bitchy sister. Please call me Terry, a nickname I grew quite fond of. So what is this mysterious guy not telling you?"

Mitch turned back to watch Sam again, but he had disappeared from the group of soldiers and he wasn't able to rediscover him anywhere else in the tent. The smile slipped off of his face, as he thought about what he should tell her.  
Sam had every right to be reserved about who he was, but it didn't feel correct to Mitch. They were caught in a situation where they should be able to trust the people they were stuck with, no matter how long they knew each other. So Sam should be able to trust Mitch, too.

"Not important right now," he answered her barely and threw an apologizing glance in her direction, but she seemed to understand and didn't question him further about the topic. "Have you already been to your tent?" he asked her instead, while they were able to take some steps forward to the desk where they were giving out information. "No, I have lost most of my stuff except for this bag here, so it wasn't necessary up until now. And I still have to find it in this mess. Maybe you can help me out with that…?"

Mitch nodded and leaned forward to look at the small piece of paper, on which the most important things had been written down: her name, date of birth, nationality, tent number…  
"Oh, you're with us!"

"Really?!"

"Yeah, look: this number here stands for the part of the camp you're in, the next one is the row and-"

"I got some news," another voice interrupted Mitch and both him and Terry looked up into Sam's impassive face. Mitch, who was still a bit bugged about Sam's evading answer from the day before, just raised an eyebrow and then finished what he had been trying to tell Terry. "-and the last one is the tent number. I can show you were it is, we've still two empty beds."

"I would appreciate it, thank you very much," she replied with a smirk and then raised her icy eyes to Sam. "And you are the mysterious guy with the connections to the military." Her sweet smile and her raised chin were challenging Sam, but he only narrowed his eyes into slits and then forced himself to say with an annoyed voice, "You're staying with us?"

"You bet- what was your name again?"

"…Sam."

"Right, nice to meet you, Sam. Call me Terry."

"Aren't you a bit too cheery, missy?"  
Mitch couldn't hold back anymore and began to grin, while stopping himself from laughing out loud. Sam was visibly getting more and more annoyed with their new acquaintance and seeing Mitch's _friend_ not as friendly and composed as usual was an unusual but refreshing sight. Terry was just about to give a cocky answer, as Mitch began to laugh seeing Sam rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry, just keep going, please!" he chuckled and took a deep breath to calm himself down, while looking aside. Thus he could neither see the amused smile from Terry, nor the relieved look in Sam's eyes, before the latter shook his head and said with a sigh, "All jokes aside, Mitch, I have bad news."

A cautious expression returned to his face immediately and Mitch listened attentively. For a mere moment Sam seemed to regret the change in the young Canadian, but then he began to report what he had learned from the soldiers earlier about the situation.  
"There will be no flights out or into this country for at least a week, if not longer. They were told it's too dangerous and from what they had heard from meteorologists, the weather is supposed to get even worse."

"Great. That's just wonderful," Mitch muttered, put a hand on his forehead and closed his eyes to compose himself. There was no way out – not for now at least. If the situation was really going to get worse, they would have no way of getting away from here. He had to talk to Jerome about it, probably with Sam as well. He opened his eyes again and was thankful that Terry was keeping quiet. She seemed to be crazy, but Mitch had the impression that she was smarter than she was trying to let them know.

"Okay, so flying is no option. What else can we do? Are there… I don't know, ferries or something like that? What about other countries? How can we get away?" he asked and tried to come up with some ideas. Sam nodded appreciatively and thought about it with a frown on his face, before he reluctantly answered, "We could try to leave that way, but I have to try and find out where it's possible. Give me some time, lead Teresa back to the tent and I'll see you later."

"It's Terry!"

"...I hope you enjoy our company, _Teresa_ , till later then."

With an open mouth and a startled expression on her face she crossed her arms in front of her chest, but he didn't look at her once, as he turned around and disappeared in the groups of refugees again. "Such an asshole!" she stated angrily and Mitch simply grinned, before he began to lead her to their tent through the rain.

"And then he exploded without even noticing and I won the game!" Jerome happily told Jo and from her excited expression she seemed to enjoy the little story his best friend had just told her. They had only been in the camp for a day so far, but the little girl had been bored out of her mind, because Mitch wouldn't let her go out into the rain. She could easily catch a cold, especially with no way of getting her dry quickly and neither Mitch nor his companions were willing to take the risk.

"Mitch!"  
The little girl jumped up from her bed she had sat on together with Jerome and ran into his awaiting arms. Mitch caught her easily and his worried heart made a little jump, as she began to smile happily. It felt good to be needed in this mess and as long as someone needed him, Mitch would keep a clear mind.

"Hey sweetie, did you enjoy Jerome's stories?" he asked and walked over to his best friend to give him a large canister of water they could drink from. Instead of telling him of her day, Jo went unusually quiet and eyed Terry, who began to smile sweetly and waved at the blond girl. "Hey there, I'm Terry! What's your name, darling?"

She didn't give an answer and hid her face in Mitch's shoulder, while her small hands clutched the back of his hoodie. Jo was afraid of her – or strangers in general. Here she was in Mitch's arms, someone she barely knew, but every single one of their little group she seemed to trust in some way. So why not Terry?  
Was is because they all had been in the plane crash? Not even her parents had made it out alive, but the four of them had survived the impossible. Could that be the reason? Mitch had saved her from certain death and somehow she seemed to trust him the most because of it.

"She's alright, Jo. Her name is Terry and she will be living with us in this tent for a while. You want to welcome her? She's all alone here, you know."  
Mitch's comforting words and his calming voice helped her and with some slight hesitation Jo looked back up towards the pretty blonde woman. "Are you really?" she asked with a small voice and big blue eyes. Terry nodded and took a step forward to give Jo her hand. "I am and I would be glad to have some female support in a tent full of boys," she whispered and winked, while pretending to make a disgusted face. Jo chuckled and took her hand, shaking it wildly. "They are very stressful," she said and tried to sound older than she was. The adults in the tent began to laugh and after they had told Jerome about what Sam had said before, Mitch sat down on his bed with Jo snuggled up against his side. Jerome and Terry had moved two other cots closer so that they could sit down opposite of Mitch, while talking about the events in the camp.

"Do you guys mind if I try to call my parents? It's been some days and they're probably worried sick," Mitch asked and took out his phone, which he had switched off to save some energy. "Not at all, I would love to talk to my parents too. I guess they're still at your house," Jerome stated and changed his position to sit on Mitch's left side.

"Oh, stop like this please!"  
The three of them froze at Terry's voice and she grabbed Mitch's phone to use the camera, after he had turned it on again. "You three look absolutely adorable, let me take a picture!" she exclaimed and held the camera up. Jo cheered and climbed between Mitch and Jerome so that she could put her head onto Mitch's shoulder. Jerome pulled the both of them closer and with a happy smile Mitch stared at the camera.

Things weren't as bad.  
He had Jerome by his side, an adorable little Jo to take care of and Terry, their new addition who always seemed to smile. Together with Sam leading their little group they would make it out of this mess for sure!

"Aaaand- done. You guys look great, it's a cute picture!"  
Terry gave Mitch his phone back and after barely a second of thinking about it, Mitch opened Twitter. It took him a few minutes until he had some kind of connection, but no one protested as he uploaded the picture of them with the caption:

' _Still safe and sound & tryin to get back home asap. Meet Jo in the meantime! She's our lil sunshine!'_

Jo laughed and seemed to be proud of her new title, while Jerome nodded appreciatively. "Didn't think about it at all, but they for sure are worried sick right now," he agreed to letting their friends and fans know they were still alright. They didn't need to know about the plane crash and their stay in the hospital though. Not now, when they were still trying to escape this madness and the horrible memories. Not now, when they still didn't know whether they would make it out alive at all or not.

The smile slipped off his face in the same moment Jo decided to speak to him.  
"Are we calling your mommy and daddy now, Mitch?" she asked excitedly, but he could hear the sad tone in her voice clear as day. He sighed and poked her nose playfully, before he asked carefully, "Will you be alright, sweetie?" She nodded and smiled bravely, but he wanted to make sure his protégée was really okay with it. "You sure?" – "You are here."

She hugged him again and Mitch couldn't stop the tender look from appearing in his eyes. "Alright then," he said and called his family.  
It only rang twice.

" _Mitch?! Are you alright?"  
_ His mother again. In the background he could hear commotion and like his mother he put them on speakerphone. "Yes, it's me." He couldn't stop his voice from shaking no matter how hard he tried and he took a deep breath, while Jerome grabbed his free hand and squeezed it. _"Thank god, we were so worried, because we couldn't reach you!"  
_ "I'm sorry, I had to turn my phone off to save the energy. Right now we're at a refugee camp near Birmingham and I have no way to charge it," he explained calmly and had to smile due to Jo's bright eyes.

" _Refugee camp?"_ his father asked confused, as another voice screamed loudly, _"Mitch!"  
_ "Connor," he sighed with a bright smile on his face and Jerome explained to the confused Jo, who he was. "You have a little brother?" she asked eagerly and climbed onto his lap again to lean against his chest.

" _Who's that?"_ his mother asked confused and Mitch had to laugh, a sound his family for sure hadn't expected to hear after their last phone call and his breakdown. "Guys, I'd like you to meet Joanna," he introduced her and she leaned forward to say a happy "Hello family of Mitch!" into the phone. It took his family a moment to remember that she was the little girl he had saved from the plane, but then they greeted her as warmly as she had.

Before they had the chance to ask her something that could get uncomfortable for Jo, he decided to update his and Jerome's family about Sam's bad news. "I don't know how much you reached via contacting this guy from the military Jerome's dad knows, but right now no plane is flying at all. The weather conditions are too bad and the ash cloud is still too thick."

"No matter what, I'm not taking a single step into another airplane," Jerome stated with a firm expression and Mitch sighed, before he admitted, "Me neither to be honest. I don't mind vomiting two weeks straight while being on a boat, if that means I don't have to fly. I'm done with that for good."

Both families stayed quiet for a moment, then Jerome's father tried to answer Mitch's question from before. _"I fear that won't be a possibility either. They're still expecting further earthquakes in and around Great Britain. Are you boys safe in this refugee camp?"_ he asked and didn't even try to hide the worry all the parents were troubled with at the moment.  
Jerome's smile was longing and sad at the same time, so Mitch pressed his hand comfortingly as he had done before. "Yeah dad, we're fine for now. You have no idea how many people there are here. Seems that they have evacuated whole Manchester and a lot of them landed here. If it hadn't been for Sam, we would still roam around in Macclesfield in front of the hospital or something like that."

"If it hadn't been for Sam I would've drowned."

Mitch hadn't thought about his words and had just said what was on his mind, but the second he had spoken he wished he could take his words back. _"What?!"_ several voices exclaimed and Mitch slowly stared at Jerome with wide opened eyes.  
He had told them everything-  
except for this little detail.

"I'm fine, don't worry-" he tried to save the situation, but his mother was already throwing a fit. _"Mitchell Donnell Ralph Hughes, when you're back home again I will make sure that you're never going to leave this house again! And now tell us what happened or I swear to god-"_

And that was the moment his phone went dead.


	6. Chapter 5: Day 8 - Planning

**Music tip:  
Madonna - Ghosttown  
youtube: **watch?v=pEcp2HlFBwE

* * *

State of Emergency

 **Chapter 5:  
** _Day 8 - Planning_

* * *

"Alright Mr. Hughes, you have no permanent injuries, so you're good to go."

He thanked the doctor and left the medical tent. Eight days had passed since the plane crash and the beginning of the end here in Great Britain, but he didn't get used to it at all. Every morning Mitch woke up he hoped to be back home. Maybe it was all just a nightmare, a bad dream that would be gone in the blink of an eye. But of course every morning he was disappointed and had to find his way around in a completely unfamiliar world.

Thankfully they had Sam in their little group of stubborn survivors.

Whenever they had run out of ideas, he knew what to do. Without thinking about it twice he had stayed with Mitch and Jerome in the hospital, even though he had been perfectly fine. He often took the lead and no one doubted his decisions for a second, but he still hadn't told them who he was. Terry supposed he was some kind of secret service agent, while Sam just had rolled his eyes at her crazy idea.

"What did he say?"

Jerome had been waiting in front of the tent, since the blond lawyer had volunteered to play a little bit with Jo during Mitch's absence. It felt good to just be with Jerome for a moment, because even though he liked their new friends, he needed some time with a more familiar face urgently. Yesterday it had stopped raining, so Jerome had been glad to accompany him and get some fresh air, not caring about the low temperatures these days due to the winter jackets they had received from the military.

"I'm alright, no more visits needed."

"Good to hear, man. You wanna take a walk before going back?"

"Sure," Mitch answered and took a deep breath. Most people had already gone back into their tents to warm the air up with a little fire they were allowed to make in small fire pits. Otherwise it would have been too cold in the night for all the refugees to stay any longer here, even though they had gotten some extra blankets as well.

"It's so quiet," he whispered with a smile, as they reached the last row to the left and began to slowly walk towards the other end of the camp. Jerome didn't answer to his statement, instead he stared at the Canadian for a long moment, before he remarked, "You're happier than in the hospital. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad about it, but we're still in a pretty fucked up situation."

"It's Jo I think. She reminds me so much of Connor, it's crazy. And Terry, you have to admit it's funny how she always drives Sam up the wall."

Jerome smiled and was about to comment on it, but Mitch was faster than him and added,

"And you're here."

Jerome stopped and blinked at him, but then he smiled and put an arm around Mitch's shoulder to drag him along. "Told you I didn't know where you would be without me, buddy!" Mitch laughed out loud and laid his arm onto his best friend's back, but the smile disappeared rather quickly. He hadn't been joking and was eager to get the message across.

"I'm serious, Jerome. You're keeping me sane right now and I have no idea how you still manage to be the same awesome and wonderful person, but it's helping me a lot."

Jerome still held him close, while they continued to walk down the pathway. He took his time, before he replied, "You have Jo to take care of and to focus on when you feel like you're getting overwhelmed. I have you. It's as simple as that." The smile was audible in his voice and feeling absolutely content and thankful for the moment, Mitch closed his eyes and rested his head against Jerome's shoulder.

"Oh, do I finally get to cuddle you, Mitchy?"

"Shut up, I'm tired and traumatized, blah blah blah. Plus you're warm and I'm freezing my ass off."

"Well, that's not acceptable, we have to save that cute little ass of yours."

"Did you just- take your hand away, asshole. I'm blushing now, you're happy?"

"A lot, thank you very much. All the _Merome_ talk is finally getting to you, I'm telling you Mitch."

"Am I interrupting something here?"

Mitch flinched heavily and Jerome was as surprised as he was, when Sam appeared from behind a tent with a raised eyebrow. He cursed his best friend for making him blush, before he tried to answer as casual as possible, "No, we were just returning from the medical check-up."

"Good, you need to follow me asap. Come on," Sam quietly replied and turned around to walk back to their tent with quick steps. They had to hurry to keep up with him and as soon as they had entered their little home, Sam checked the surrounding area and then returned with a haunted look on his usually impassive face.

"We have to get away from here immediately."

Jerome was the first to find his voice again. "What the heck do you mean?! We can't just leave this place," he argued and frowned, but tried to keep his voice down due to a sleeping Jo. "And where is Terry, shouldn't she be here, too?"

"Can you forget her for a moment, please? We neither have the time nor the space for what I have in mind, so don't talk to her about this!" When he saw that Mitch was about to protest, he continued and finally revealed what his secretiveness was about.

"I think I have a way for us to get back to the States."

Mitch's heart stopped beating for a moment and with wide open eyes he clutched Jerome's arm. Sam had found a way for them to get home. He shuddered and gasped, as he allowed hope to suffuse his body. Home. His family. Normality.

"How?" was the only thing he was able to stutter and Jerome seemed to be as shocked as he was. The grin on Sam's face was unusual and disturbing, but infectious at the same time. It was the first time that Mitch noticed how eager the older man really was to get away from this pit of hell.

"I overheard a soldier talking to his superior about the situation in London. According to them there are planes of the American military, taking citizens of the United States back stateside. I don't know how many there are, but they are about to take off very soon, so you understand my urgency. Also we have no idea how many people they take with them, so the less people we are, the better!"

"And you thought you could pull this off without me noticing? I'm a fucking lawyer Sam, I know when people hide something. Mock me all you want, but don't underestimate me."

Terry stood in the entrance of their tent with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Instead of the familiar smile and the happy expression on her face, she stared at Sam with narrowed eyes and was absolutely serious. "Maybe you might want to discuss your little escape plan with me – and these lovely people." She stepped aside and person after person entered the tent Mitch had seen during the meal times already. Terry had been talking to them a lot and obviously made friends with them. All in all there were about six additional people, some with a partner or even kids.

"No. We can't take all of them," Sam immediately refused and Mitch felt himself grow pale, as he looked into the frightened and hopeless faces of the bystanders. "That's bullshit, of course you can," Terry replied angrily and took a challenging step forward.

"Start thinking, little Ms. Lawyer, and try to be rational! They will _never_ have enough space for all of the people who should get back, let alone out little group here!"

"If you don't I'll notify the guards at once, Sam. I guess they won't be too happy with a lot of citizens roaming around the landscape, will they?"

"Stop it!"

Sam stopped in the middle of formulating his heated reply and all eyes focused on Mitch. He had his hands clenched into fists and was breathing heavily due to the rage in his veins. With a quick look of the Canadian Jerome hurried over to Jo's bed, who had woken up and started crying because of the screaming.

"I don't care about you two arguing, but if you don't quiet down I swear to God that I'm kicking you out of this tent! She was sleeping you morons," he yelled at them while keeping his voice down and both of them actually looked ashamed for a moment.

"Alright. So what do you two think?" Sam sighed and raised his hands helplessly, because discussing with Terry wouldn't get them anywhere. He was referring to Mitch and Jerome – but what was Mitch actually thinking about it? Slowly he glanced in Jerome's direction, who was still taking care of the upset Jo. Nonetheless his unfocused look indicated that he had heard the question loud and clear.

"I want to get home really badly," Mitch admitted with a whisper and stared at the ground, while crossing his arms in front of his chest. Their whole trip to Great Britain had been a horrible nightmare so far and Mitch wanted nothing more than to wake up again, hug his family and laugh with their friends. He just wanted to _live_ again, but here he just wasn't able to, no matter how lovely Jo, how amusing Terry and how confident Sam were.

"I really just want to go," he repeated and looked up to Sam with a desperate and sad smile that didn't reach his eyes. "But we can't leave them behind when there's a small chance for them to get away as well."

"I agree," Jerome finally stated and appeared like a ghost by Mitch's side, who hadn't even noticed his friend moving towards him. Sam sighed loudly and stared at the ceiling of the tent, then he nodded and turned to the others, while standing protectively in front of the two young adults.

"Alright. We will take you along, but under one condition. If they haven't enough space for the whole group, then we'll take priority. Mitch, Jerome and Jo go first, then I, then you. Deal?"

Terry seemed to be satisfied with the outcome and agreed, but Mitch didn't listen to her next words, while he stared surprised at Sam. Not only had he stood up for them, but also had he decided to let them go first even before himself.

Where did this other side come from?

The withdrawn and grumpy Sam had disappeared, instead the other one had resurfaced, which he had only seen once, after Mitch had regained consciousness again since he had nearly drowned during rescuing Sam. He had been worried and caring to Mitch and the others and he had even left them alone, when Mitch had needed a moment to come to terms with what had just happened.

The need to find out who Sam really was grew, but he was pulled out of his thoughts again, as Jerome concluded what they had been talking about the past two minutes.

"So you guys organize food and drinks, you collect clothes and blankets and Terry and Sam get some much needed stuff like GPS, a map and maybe even some radio devices." Terry and Sam together? Mitch frowned confused and blinked, but they were alright with this array. When the hell did this happen?!

"You sure Mitch and I shouldn't get some stuff too?" Jerome asked and Sam shook his head. "No, you need to be here in case Jo wakes up and Mitch has to rest, so we won't have any problems during our little journey to London. I don't know how fast we'll find some cars, but I fear we have to walk a while for sure."

The gathering disappeared rather quickly and soon Mitch found himself alone with Jerome and a peacefully sleeping Jo. "Tomorrow we'll finally be on our way home, Mitch," he whispered awestruck and couldn't hide the hopeful grin on his face.

Mitch didn't have the heart to remind him of what could go wrong, so he just tried to smile reassuringly. Of course Jerome noticed his cautiousness and pulled him into a tight hug. "Don't worry, Mitch. You'll see that we're home sooner than expected!"

The planes could be long gone when they arrived.

The earthquakes could bring them down on their way to London.

Someone could get hurt so easily.

"I hope you're right."


	7. Chapter 6: Day 9 - Realizing

**Music tip:  
The Paper Kites – Willow Tree March  
youtube: **watch?v=3JARp8lB25g

* * *

State of Emergency

 **Chapter 6:  
** _Day 9 - Realizing_

* * *

"Mitch, why do we have to go?"

Jo whined and rubbed her eyes, while she sat on the cot and waited for Mitch to finish packing. He just put an extra pair of blankets in his large backpack over some food, before he glanced up at the tired girl. "I already told you, we have a way to get home, darling."

"But Mitch, I'm so tired!"

With pouty lips she crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked like she was about to throw a tantrum, but Mitch chuckled and replied, "How about I'll carry you a bit, until you're a bit more rested?"

Happily she raised her arms in his direction and quickly he put the bag on his back to pull her up. With a content Jo in his arms he smiled and then asked her, while she put her head on his shoulder, "Comfortable?"

She simply nodded and closed her eyes, as Jerome entered the tent. He took a deep breath, but held himself back, when he spotted the nearly sleeping child in the arms of his best friend. A warm expression spread in his eyes and he sighed, before he asked Mitch, "Are you ready? We're waiting for you."

Mitch nodded and tried to ignore the fluttering feeling in his stomach due to Jerome's dazzling smile, as he began to follow him out of the camp. During the night Sam had discovered a fitting hole in the fence – or he had made it himself – so that they could get away from the refugee camp without being seen by the soldiers. According to the military it was safest to stay in the camp, so they wouldn't let them out no matter how many planes would fly from London back to their homes. They were too close-minded and tried to go according to plan as much as possible, because letting go of their regulations meant accepting the fact that they had absolutely no control over the current situation, which they were neither able nor willing to do at the moment.

"There you are. Have you got everything you need?" Sam asked and kept his voice down to not wake Jo up, when Jerome and Mitch finally stopped in the middle of their little group. When Mitch answered in the affirmative, Sam turned around and counted the group, before he began to lead the way towards Birmingham. It only took them ten minutes to reach a road which they could follow, but just as Mitch had began to listen to Terry's and Jerome's quiet conversation, Sam called for him.

The rest of the group ignored him, as he tried to press forward carefully to ask about what was bothering their unofficial leader. "What can I do for you?"

"You can stay here with me at the front of the group. With Jo you can't be as fast as we are obviously, so I'd like to keep an eye on you so that we can adapt to your speed," Sam explained and kept his eyes on the road. In his left hand he held a map of the surrounding area and curiously Mitch leaned forward to look at it. "How long do we have to walk, until we reach Birmingham?" he asked with a low voice and Sam unraveled the map a bit to show him the way they were supposed to walk.

"By car it would take us one to two hours, so by foot it'll take us approximately 6 hours I guess. I hope we will find some kind of transportation on the way, but I don't want to check these little towns, which are a bit off of our route. If we don't find a car or something similar there, we would have to go even further," Sam told him patiently and put the map away again.

Mitch hesitated shortly, but the moment was too much of an opportunity to just let it go and he was too curious to not confront Sam with his ominous past or what else his secrecy actually was about.

Also he wanted to use every chance of distracting his mind from the usual thoughts.

Depressing, sad, overwhelming, no room to breathe.

"Sam… do you mind telling me something about you?"

Six hours were a long time and before Jo would wake up and keep him busy, Mitch needed a topic to think about. Sam studied him for a while and Mitch already anticipated him to deny his request, when he suddenly sighed and then nodded. "Alright, but only if you're willing to answer the question as well. Deal?"

"Deal!"

"Well then, ask away."

"What is your job?" was the first question that entered his mind and curiously he studied the taller man, who slightly grinned and then nodded. "Of course you ask that first. Right now I don't have one, but I've been in the military for some years."

So Terry had been right after all – at least a little bit. Mitch wasn't surprised about the reveal, because Sam was fitting into the military perfectly. His behavior, his clear mind no matter how shocking the situation was, the habit to be a leader…

Just their first encounter after the plane crash didn't seem to fit in, but Mitch didn't question his behavior any further. It was a situation no one was accustomed to.

"So did you know those soldiers? Are they friends of yours?"

Sam laughed and shook his head, before he replied, "No, otherwise we wouldn't be sneaking away early in the morning and we would have a car for sure. Nonetheless it was helpful to get the needed information. So what about you? Still going to school?" Sam obviously wanted to get away from the topic of him being in the military and regarding the things he maybe had to witness, Mitch wasn't keen on questioning him any further about it anyway.

"No, I'm making videos for YouTube," he answered casually and had to grin, as he saw the skeptical face of Sam. "And I'm actually making money with it, of course." Sam still seemed to be not convinced, so he added again, "I'm having a huge house with a pool in Florida and bought it from my own money, so yes, this is my job. Playing video games, having fun and recording the stuff."

"…how old are you again?"

"Just turned 21."

"Damn, I have definitely done something wrong in my life, that's for sure."

Mitch couldn't suppress the laugh from bubbling up, but thankfully Jo continued to sleep. "It's not as easy as it sounds, people are counting on you to make videos every single day and you need fresh ideas every so often, otherwise they get bored. Not everyone loves you and you need to be thick-skinned, but it's _so_ worth it. Every so often there are conventions and you get to meet all those people who actually watch your videos and enjoy them on a daily basis. It's mind-blowing to see them dressed up like you or with drawings…"

The smile on Mitch's face was infectious and he enjoyed the happiness flowing through his veins for a rare moment. This was what he would return to. His family, his friends and all of his fans, with whom he would be able to move on from this nightmare.

"This actually sounds amazing. So, next question?"

"Where are you from and where do you live?"

"Been born in California and still live there. What about you?"

They talked for about half an hour and Mitch enjoyed a chatty Sam, who wasn't as unapproachable as before. Jo had woken up some time later and walked on her own, but after the second stop at around 9 a.m. she asked Mitch with tears in her eyes to take her back into his arms. The way was too long for her and even Mitch began to feel nasty blisters on his feet and his legs didn't want to move a single step forward, so they took another stop to rest a bit.

And then, hours later, they finally spotted Birmingham in the distance.

"Mitch, look! Are we finally there?"

Jo was walking on her own again and jumped up and down joyfully as if the past hours didn't exist. She was about to run off, when Mitch caught her hand and held it tightly in his own. "Yes, this is it, but stay with us, we don't know where to go yet."

"Will we stay in a camp again?" she asked less enthusiastic and clung to Mitch's hand, when Jerome appeared by her other side and put his hand onto her blond hair. "No, we will try to find cars, so we can drive the rest of the way to London. Otherwise we'll stay in a hotel or something like that," he tried to calm her down and Mitch refrained himself from telling Jerome that they probably had no money to pay for it, or at least not enough, because it seemed to work and Jo smiled up happily at the American.

Her mood immediately raised the spirits of the group and even Sam had a confident expression on his face – until they reached the city limits.

Quietly they stopped and stared at the sight in front of them.

The streets were completely vacated. Not a single person was outside, even though it must have been around 1 p.m., no playing kids, no driving cars. For a moment everyone was silent and tried to listen for some sounds, but it was Sam who interrupted the eerie silence with a low voice, "Come on, let's keep going. Stay together, we don't know what's going on here, but look out for a car."

As they slowly moved on, Jo clutched Mitch's hand tightly in her own and looked around with frightened eyes. "It's alright, you don't have to be afraid, we're here to keep you safe," he tried to calm her down, but this time it didn't help. "Where are all the people, Mitch?"

"They have probably been already brought to safety by the military, dear. You remember how I've told you that I was in Manchester before coming to the camp? They did the same with us and got us out of harm's way," Terry calmly replied and managed to quiet her down effectively. Mitch threw a thankful glance in her direction and then continued to follow Sam, who chose another street to get into the town center.

Terry's explanation sounded logical, but Mitch still was shocked about the circumstances they had arrived to. Not a single person. The town was deserted. Of course he had talked to the other refugees in the camp and had heard about whole cities being evacuated, but it was the first time for him to see it with his own eyes.

He felt a shiver running down his spine, as he was reminded of one of those ghost towns. Immediately he walked a little faster.

"Mitch, if the people are okay, then why are the windows smashed here?" Jo asked timidly after a few minutes and tried to press herself even further into his side. With a sigh Mitch looked around at the various little shops – a sign that they were close to midtown. Nearly all of the windows were destroyed and from what Mitch could spot a lot of the shop fittings and goods had been taken.

"They broke in to steal the things that were sold in the shops," he finally replied and wasn't able to keep the bitter tone out of his voice. People should concentrate on helping others and getting to safety, not robbing each other when there was a good opportunity.

"M- Mommy told me it's bad to steal. Why did they do it then?"

Jo's voice was shaking, but Mitch didn't reply. Instead he suddenly stopped and stared at a certain shop with a fixed gaze and an idea in his mind. "Mitch?" Jerome.

It was worth a try, wasn't it? He could at least partly satisfy the nerve-wracking curiosity and now that he wasn't able to get some information via his parents due to his energy-less phone, it could help him to get an impression of what was going on here and in the rest of the world.

"I'm back in a second, just give me a moment."

Sam was nearly throwing a fit but stopped, when he realized what Mitch was up to.

Carefully he climbed through one of the broken windows of a shop for cigarettes, small things and newspapers. Most of the valuable goods were already gone, but what he looked for lay scattered on the floor. Slowly Mitch went on his knees and studied every single one of the newspapers, until he found the most recent one. Just as he was about the leave the shop again to return to Jo, Jerome and the others waiting for him, one of the older males of their group shouted from a nearby backstreet,

"I've found it! A working car!"


	8. Chapter 7: Day 9 - Shaking

**Music** **tip:  
Sia – California Dreamin'  
youtube: **watch?v=0TFmncOtzcE

* * *

State of Emergency

 **Chapter 7:  
** _Day 9 - Shaking_

* * *

"Next stop: Milton Keynes. Please fasten your seatbelts, have an eye on little giggly girls named Jo and stop goggling at each other. Thank you for travelling with _Robertson_ tours!"

Jo began to laugh hysterically, while Jerome shook his head with a grin and a "My god…", Mitch however wondered about a joking Sam, who seemed to be in good spirits for once after they had found some cars to travel with. Unfortunately there had only been enough gas to barely reach Milton Keynes, so at least they would be able to refill the cars with some leftovers from a gas station hopefully.  
The one hour long drive had been unexpectedly fun and Sam had entertained Jo, who sat on the front seat, while Mitch had taken the opportunity to talk a bit to his best friend. It had been about random and serious topics all at once, but he had enjoyed the chance to get some worries off of his chest without Jo noticing.

"So, Robertson? Is that actually your last name?" he asked curiously and leaned a bit forward to get a better glimpse at Milton Keynes. The city was as vacated as Birmingham had been, but the knowledge to be relatively safe in the car and not exposed to the mysterious circumstances and the cold and rainy weather outside was uplifting. They had a chance to make it out of this mess alive, hadn't they?

"It is," Sam simply answered and then pulled the car over to a gas station at the side of the road. It was located near the center of the town and large buildings were towering up behind it. Usually they should have been a bit more distanced Mitch thought, but then didn't waste another second on it, as he excited the car like the occupants of the other three vehicles they had found in Birmingham. The car keys obviously hadn't been there, but Sam and Rick, a father from their group, had managed to start them anyway. How exactly Mitch didn't want to know.

"Why don't you guys refill the cars, while Jerome, Jo and I go inside the store and try to get some drinks and food?" Mitch suggested and took some steps in the direction of the undamaged door, as a sudden grumbling sound stopped him dead in his tracks.

Then the ground began to shake.

Mitch wasn't able to stay on his feet and looked with wide eyes back to the others, who were as shocked as he was. " It's an earthquake," Sam shouted and tried to keep all of their little group in his field of view. "Stay down and keep your eyes out in case something-"

Even before he was able to finish his sentence, a part of the roof construction made a creaking noise and Terry barely escaped the deadly huge projectile coming down thanks to Sam, who pulled her out of the way. The trembling stopped and the silence spread out like a disease, only interrupted by the part of the roof emitting sparks via the ripped out cables.

"A fucking earthquake?!" Jerome finally asked with a shaking voice and pressed a scared Jo protectively against his chest. "They said it, didn't they? In the camp Sam heard them talk about possible earthquakes," Mitch replied weakly and tried to get up, even though his trembling legs were nearly giving out again. As if the plane crash and all the chaos before hadn't been enough already.

"What a mess," one of the older males named Rick said and shot a concerned look to his teenage daughter, who clung to his shirt as desperate as Jo to Jerome. On the ground in front of the car Mitch had been in while driving to Milton Keynes something wet was attracting his attention and with a frown on his face he carefully stepped forward. It wasn't just a puddle of water, because the surface was slightly shimmering. Mitch looked closer and saw its source – the gas pump must've been damaged, as the part of the roof had fallen down during the tremor.

"I hope we have enough gas left in the other ones. We won't be able to use this one obviously," Mitch unknowingly interrupted Sam and Rick, but got their attention. Another hissing sound filled the following silence and Mitch looked to his right to the sparks from the cables.

Sparks that were dangerously close to the leaking gas, the car and the gas pump.

He reacted in the same moment Sam screamed for them to run.

Mitch turned around and forced his muscles into an unexpected sprint, as the sound from ascending fire and the heat reached his senses. The whole gas station was about to explode, because not even the rain was able to extinguish the roaring flames licking at the car and the gas pump.

"Mitch, run!"

He wasn't sure if it had been Jerome or Sam, but he was the last of their group, since he had been standing too close to the source of their doom. Panic filled his veins and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest – he had to get away, just a little bit more, somewhere to hide, a wall, a building, _anything_ to escape a fiery death!

Someone ran towards him, another voice screamed for said person, it was Rick who pulled him away from the direction of the others and towards the destroyed entrance of a high building, in which his daughter was already waiting for them.

"No, don't go in there, stay-" Sam screamed, but he was drowned out by the deafening sound of a powerful explosion. They were still too close to the gas station, so the blast wave affected them and made Mitch fall over onto the ground of a long hallway. Nonetheless they had made the right decision – if Mitch had continued to run after the others, he would have been too close to the explosion.

"Thank you," he coughed and grabbed Rick's hand to get back up again, after they had continued to stay on the ground for more seconds than necessary. Mitch's hands were still shaking from the adrenalin and the fear of being blasted into pieces.

"We should get out of this hellhole as soon as possible, in this town too many things are happening all at once for my liking. Let's get back to Sam and the group," Rick said and threw a look back over his shoulder towards the half destroyed gas station. The fire was consuming it completely now and Mitch was able to feel the heat of it even here, after one of the nearby trees was burning as well now. He shuddered and put his arms around himself. "Let's take another entrance, this one is too close," Mitch mumbled and Rick's young daughter started to walk towards the other entrance of the long hallway they had entered without saying a single word. She obviously was in a state of shock, but Mitch couldn't blame her one bit.

It must have been some kind of apartment building, because there were several doors leading to some residences and a flight of stairs as well as an elevator to the upper floors. However there was not a single person encountering them and it made Mitch more nervous than in Birmingham. Sure, he wasn't alone, but he missed the comforting presence of Jerome and the protective one from Sam. Without them he felt vulnerable and naked. Rick and his daughter were nice, but he didn't know them. They had not experienced what Mitch and the others had. What was giving up your home compared to watching people die around you, nearly being one of them and fearing for the live of your loved one?

Loved one.  
An interesting term for his best friend.

But he did, didn't he? He loved Jerome dearly, because he was more than just a friend, they were brothers and shared everything with each other… Even situations like these. What would he give for Jerome to be safe right now, somewhere back in America, with his family or their friends.

Then again Mitch would be lost without him. He still hadn't come to terms with what had happened to them, but without Jerome he would've given up for sure by now. Taking care of Joanna only helped so much and was a burden, no matter how you looked at it.

"Should we check the flats for something useful?"

Mitch was pulled back to reality and looked up at the silent girl, who now stood in front of a half-opened door. With big brown eyes she stared at her father and Mitch, while trying to disappear in the large jacket she had gotten back at the refugee camp.

"I think we should rather catch up with Sam and the others," Mitch argued with a hint of selfishness. He yearned to be back with them, because this solitary place made him feel on edge. Roughly he was reminded of one of those horror movies he had watched with his friends and he couldn't escape the feeling that something bad was about to happen.

"We need everything we can get, if we want to reach London in time. Let's take a look," Rick answered with an uplifting voice and sided with his daughter. Of course he did. Nonetheless Mitch followed the two into the small apartment and took a careful look around the living room. Rick and his daughter had disappeared into the kitchen first of all and Mitch wanted to go after them, as something caught his attention.

On the wall near the door to the kitchen were several picture frames of a young family. The happy parents smiled into the camera, while their arms rested on the shoulders of their two kids, one boy and one girl. The red-haired girl stuck her tongue out towards her brother, who tried to punch her arms. Still they seemed to be content and carefree.

Why were those pictures left behind?

Mitch imagined what he would pick, if he had to leave his home in a hurry. Memories captured in pictures, letters and other things would have come first on his list. What could be the reason especially for a family to leave those things behind? Had they been on a vacation when the evacuation had started? Or was there another reason, a more morbid one that made Mitch shiver and grow pale?

Slowly he turned to two other doors that were closed and opposite of the kitchen. Probably the bedrooms. It was a bad, bad idea, but Mitch had to take a short look to make sure life wasn't _that_ cruel. He had heard such upsetting and sick stories before about parents killing themselves and their kids to save them from whatever they thought to be worse.

Rick and his daughter's voice had become silent and not even the roaring fire could be heard in this isolated little safe haven. Mitch stepped closer inch by inch and reached out with his trembling hand towards the door handle to his right.  
Fearful of what he would see Mitch tore the door open.

The bedroom of the adults was completely abandoned.  
No trace of either the parents or their kids.

For a short moment Mitch allowed himself to be relieved, then he glanced to his left. Behind the other door should be the room of the children. Without being able to catch a sane thought Mitch slowly made his way over to the second door handle, but this time he hesitated.

He should just leave it at that and help Rick and his daughter to get some supplies. Right. There was no need to look into that room. It was none of his business.

Quickly Mitch turned around to get to the kitchen, as a rattling noise behind him made Mitch freeze immediately.  
Of course the sound had to come from the ominous room.

The sound appeared again and with a pounding heart and a million reasons why he shouldn't do it Mitch turned around and opened the door.

Except for a bunk bed to his left, a dresser to his right and a large window that showed Milton Keynes the room was empty. No dead parents, no dead kids. Everything was fine.

Mitch wasn't able to suppress the short laugh and took a deep breath, while leaning against the wall of the children's room. He nearly had driven himself crazy for no reason. Of course nothing that stupid had happened here and Mitch shouldn't have doubted it from the beginning. To be honest though the situation that became worse and worse each day slowly but surely made him weary and overcautiously of everything and everyone.

A sudden brush against his leg nearly made him jump and Mitch looked down with wide opened eyes-  
at a small cat.

It must have belonged to the family and Mitch felt bad for the animal to be left behind.  
"Hey you, are you all alone here?" he asked with a smile and carefully bend down to stroke the trustful cat. Maybe they could take her with them to a safer place, where people would take care of her. All alone she probably would die sooner or later, especially with the weather conditions and no way to stay warm here.

"Come on, let's get the others and then I'll introduce you to Joanna. She'll love you for sure," he continued and carefully took her on his arms. Hopefully there was some cat food in the kitchen as well, because it didn't seem like she had anything decent for some days.

Mitch just opened the door, when the ground beneath his feet began to shake again.  
Another earthquake.

"No, no, no, no, **no**!"

No one seemed to hear his desperate scream, because this time he was neither with Sam, nor with Jerome. Not even Rick and his daughter were in the apartment anymore – the kitchen was deserted. Did they already leave the building? But why didn't they take him with them? Were they just in the next apartment?

Unlike the first earthquake this one was a lot stronger and Mitch barely was able to stay on his feet. It didn't stop after a few seconds like the previous one and the panic finally overwhelmed Mitch, as debris began to crumble from the ceiling.

"Mitch!"  
It was Rick's hectic voice and just as Mitch stepped out of the flat onto the hallway, he and his daughter came from another door close by. "We have to get out of here, this earthquake is stronger, it's too dangerous-"

Rick wasn't able to finish his sentence.  
A loud cracking noise silenced him and together they looked upwards and stared at a large split in the ceiling, before all hell broke loose and parts of the building collapsed.

A high scream, drowned out by the deafening sound of breaking stone.  
A painful cut on his hand, the cat, then it was gone-  
Someone pushed him, he fell, the pictures lay shattered on the ground, the apartment-

And then his vision turned black.


End file.
